Scotland rain on Ireland's parade in Dublin

Scotland beat Ireland 23-20 yesterday afternoon in Dublin to deny the home side the Triple Crown and spoil the farewell party at Croke Park.

Dan Parks landed a touchline penalty two minutes from time in Ireland’s last match at the Gaelic Athletic Association’s stadium before they move back to rebuilt Landsdowne Road in November.

Ireland had started brightly and when skipper Brian O’Driscoll crossed the line for a try on 11 minutes it looked as if Scotland could be on the end of a drubbing.

However, the home side appeared complacent in the face of a committed and wholehearted Scottish side which began to assert its dominance at both the scrum and the lineout.

Number 8 John Beattie finished off a counterattacking move from Scotland just before the break to give the visitors a 14-7 lead and led 17-7 early in the second half thanks to a penalty from Parks.

Tommy Bowe once again underlined that he is one of the best finishers in world rugby at the moment breaking through a number of Scottish tackles to score Ireland’s second try on 64 minutes.

But the game was finally decided when Irish fullback Rob Kearney tried to beat one Scotland defender too many and was penalized for holding onto the ball. Parks stepped up to slot the penalty and seal a famous away win for Andy Robinson’s team.